GM's Opel to Close Car Factory in Germany

By

Vanessa Fuhrmans and

Sharon Terlep

Updated June 13, 2012 5:47 p.m. ET

General Motors Co.'s troubled European unit Adam Opel plans to stop producing cars after 2016 at its plant in Bochum, Germany, signaling the first closing of a major German auto factory since World War II.

The decision marks a critical step in GM's efforts to turn around its chronically money-losing European business, which has become the U.S. auto maker's biggest albatross since it emerged from bankruptcy three years ago. Opel is under intense pressure to slash excess capacity to help staunch its losses in the region's...